Under the Sheets of Darkness (Req and I)

The question shouldn't have shocked her, but it did for some reason. She took a moment to think before responding. "It depends."

Averting her eyes from his, and keeping her voice low so only he could hear, she continued. "Sometimes as punishment. Other times because it helps me escape the pain I feel. And," she paused, "on occasion-- to get away from this twisted world." Her eyes shimmered with pain, longing, regret, need. She suddenly felt the need to throw up.

"I'm sorry," she barely managed to say before rushing to the nearest bathroom and losing her breakfast. Surprisingly, this didn't provide her a feeling of accomplishment. Instead, she just felt ill. She stood and rinsed her mouth before walking back out.

Krios was waiting for her outside, pacing really. He hadn't meant to set her off like that. He'd only asked to try to break the ice. As soon as she came out he stopped in his tracks. She looked pretty rough. "Hey, are you all right?" He asked, his voice clearly concerned.

Though she hadn't expected for the guy to be waiting, she just shrugged in response. "Sorry. I have panic and anxiety attacks. That's the result." She pointed toward the bathroom door. She must have been too emotionally raw still to think about what she wanted to do. The past few weeks had been pretty rough.

"How about we see if we could step outside?" Fresh air sounded pretty amazing right now. Her hair was disheveled and her skin shone from the paleness, but she held herself up.

"Um... Sure" He told her. "Are we gonna need an escort or anything?" He asked, not remembering the rules the place had set down. It didn't seem that important at the time. He wasn't dangerous really, and was only there because his parents sucked. Nonetheless, he offered her his arm as a support as she still seemed pretty shaken up

"No, they will just peek out every now and then." She said as she motioned to the nurse at the desk that they were stepping outside. As she shoved the door open, cold swept between them. It was autumn. She had nearly forgotten.

Separating them from freedom was a large brick wall. It was as tall as the building, though they did let one tree sit in a patch of grass amidst the small concrete patio they were allowed out on. A patio set sat in the corner, the umbrella toppled and in bad shape. They must have forgotten to remove it during the last storm.

As they stepped outside, the cold chill of the Autumn air bit into Krios' skin, leaving him cringing as they walked. He had never been fond of the cold, and it was taking a good deal of effort on his part not to just turn back around and go outside. The only thing really keeping him out there, was that he wanted to spend time with this new girl. She intrigued him, on multiple levels.

It was clear that she had some issues to work through, otherwise she wouldn't be there, and she wouldn't have done what she'd done. There was more to it than that though, he could feel it. She was different from the other people he met. She was unique. That alone was enough to keep his attention where most things couldn't.

"So... What is there to do out here, anyway?" He asked, turning around to take a better view of the surrounding environment. It seemed bleak, lifeless. Not exactly the most uplifting spot to house people with mental disorders that he could think of. "I mean, it's nice and all, but it seems kind of... Dull"

Sophia turned to look at him as if the question bewildered her. "We're outside. We can feel the air. Hear the birds. And just on the other side of that wall," she motioned toward the large brick wall blocking them in, "is freedom." Perhaps she was becoming delusional, or maybe she was just feeling inspired. Either way, she just wished to be outside of this place. She felt trapped. It had once been a safe haven for her to which she craved to return. Now it was a cage.

Realizing how boring this might seem to someone other than herself, she offered him a seat at the chess table tucked into the corner. Of course, she much preferred checkers, so she was glad it had both pieces.

Krios looked at her curiously. He had never heard anyone speak so honestly. He was accustomed to the deceit and lies that came with his family, and the rest of his life. It was a depressing aspect of his life that he often tried not to think about, but one that he couldn't escape from. As he approached her, he forced a weak smile on his face and sat down at the table.

"So, are you any good?" He asked. He'd only played chess a few times in the past, before he discovered that he was more skilled in cards. It wasn't until he looked back up to her that he realised her eyes were on the checkers pieces. That was something he considerably more comfortable with. Checkers was easy, relying more on simple prediction and movement than massive strategy.

"It's checkers. Nobody is good," she replied swiftly. The checkers pieces landed in their positions. Krios was black and Sophia was red. Fitting, she thought. As they began, Sophia moved predictably. First piece went into one of the corner pockets in the middle of the board. The one where nobody can jump you.

Krios set up for the first part of his pattern. a piece in the middle. The Triangle format had worked wonders in the past for his games. He considered it an efficient form to use in the game, simple as it was, push up through the center with a small triangle of pieces followed up by the next set ready to take what moved in after the rest. Risk and reward.

With the first move, he smiled some, looking up to her, she seemed lost. "Your turn"

Sophia nodded and moved another piece. Before the flashes completely took her over, she decided to be utterly blunt and honest.

"I'm starting to have flashbacks. I'm sorry," she muttered. Normally she could have gone longer without a flashback, but given her suicide attempt and being put into the hospital, she had little control over it. Her emotions were raw so she would have many episodes until the meds kicked in to numb her before she could heal.

Just before they began, she muttered a feeble attempt at calling a nurse. Then she was screaming as a man hurled himself toward her, intent on harming her. Again. Her hands up in defense, tears spilling down her cheeks, and fear solid in her eyes.

Catching what was going on, Krios immediately called for some help, trying to restrain her as carefully as possible. He didn't want her hurting herself. "HEY! A LITTLE HELP OUT HERE WOULD BE NICE!" He shouted towards the building.

Everyone inside froze as they gathered near the door to watch. A male nurse came out with a needle in his hand. Seeing no threat from Krios, he walked to the other side of the hysterical girl and injected the needle into her right shoulder.

She slumped forward as he caught her and whisked her up and away from the boy. She would head to solitary confinement until they could be sure she wouldn't hurt anyone, including herself.

"She'll be fine. She will wake up in an hour and we will work to get her on the right meds." The guy called back as he stepped inside with her limp in his arms.

~~~

An hour later, she did wake up. She was in a room with a single bed, and no bedding. Not even a pillow. Nothing lined the bare white walls. There was a door with no door handle, and a tiny area of misted glass. She walked up to it and knocked.

It opened.

"You're awake," said a blonde nurse with a fake smile. "You've been out longer than we expected. How do you feel?"

"Confused," she tried to croak out before falling into a fit of coughs. Her mouth felt like it was stuffed full of cotton balls. The nurse handed her a small paper cup of water. Sophia chugged it.

"Where am I?"

"You are in solitary, dear. You were thrashing about at that poor young man here."

"I- I didn't mean to. Is he okay?" Her voice shrilled.

"Yes. I think you nearly gouged his eye out before John arrived, though." Continuing on, "You have to stay in here until we get your medication figured out."

"How long?" She began to panic and the nurse actually showed some sorrow with her next words. "Until whenever they begin working. Sometimes a few days, sometimes...longer."

"No," Sophia tried to breathe. "Can I go to lunch? Dinner? Outside?" The nurse shook her head regrettably. Here she was, supposed to be getting help. Instead, they had her trapped.

The nurse said other things, but she was no longer aware of what they were. She had stepped back and sat on the bed, curling her legs up to her chest. Maybe if she pretended to be okay after the first couple doses, they would let her out again.

It was hours before Krios had figured out where they were keeping her. Somehow he'd convinced them to allow him access to the door, although he was forbidden from opening it, and he had to be kept under observation. Lightly he tapped on the door, sitting on the ground leaning on it. "Hey, don't suppose you're awake in there, are you?" He asked

The voice startled her, but she instantly recognized it. "Krios," she questioned as she walked toward the door. "What are you doing? How did you get to the door?" A familiar voice. It was a relief.

The nurse at the station eyed Krios, but allowed him the privacy to speak to the girl in the solitary room. She shuffled some papers and began typing at the keyboard for the computer, turning ever-so-often to make sure the door remained closed.

Krios smiled "Yeah, well, I figured that solitary isn't much fun, and as you hadn't really done anything wrong, there wasn't much reason to punish you for it. So, so long as I didn't go in there, I'm allowed to keep you company." He explained. "So... How're you holding up?"

"Oh. I'm not being punished?" That seemed odd. How was being trapped inside a tiny room with nothing but a bed not be punishment? "Thanks for stopping by. Not sure why you are here, but I'm glad." Her blunt honesty thing needed to stop. She tended to confess everything she was thinking without hesitation. It was matter-of-fact.

"Don't you have anything else to do?" She also leaned against the door after turning the light off. Without being able to see, maybe she could imagine she wasn't actually alone.

"Not really, you're kind of the only one around here who's any kind of fun to talk to anyway. Anyway, I was told that because of your episode, they're keeping you there until they can get you some meds or something. Something about making sure you didn't accidentally hurt yourself I think, I wasn't paying too much attention, was more interested in finding out I could visit you, y'know?" Krios explained as well as he could. It felt weird being watched like this, but he was glad that he could be there for Sophia